A few thousand people packed the normally quiet surrounds of Bancoora Beach for the Life Saving Victoria Junior Youth carnival.
Almost 1450 competitors, including 100 OGSLSC Nippers, from across Victoria competed in the fourth summer junior event after the popular Cosy Corner carnival in Torquay was cancelled due to extreme heat on 4 January.
Loads flocked to Bancoora located between Barwon Heads and Torquay including officials, parents and families with a shuttle bus running from Connewarre Reserve to transport patrons.
The Life Saving Victoria carnival, jointly hosted by Bancoora SLSC and Jan Juc SLSC, was a state qualifier for next month’s 2019 Victorian Junior Lifesaving Championships in Lorne.
Qualifying events included the Under 11s Iron, the Under 12s Iron and Board Rescue and the Under 13s Iron and Board Rescue.
Numerous Ocean Grove Nippers performed well in the bigger surf and warm conditions at Bancoora.
Up to 30 junior local participants took in part in an iron training session at Bancoora on Tuesday 15 January to acclimatise to the conditions prior to event.
“Our kids were pretty keen to get down and compete in the surf at Bancoora,” Ocean Grove SLSC Junior Activities Manager Darren Ball said.
“The kids were great and had smiles on the day.
“It was good to get kids confident about the conditions. Bancoora is a shorebreak that can have some dumpy waves.”
Locals Kayla Forward and Maya Perez-Pages worked hard in their Iron events and both qualified, while Jerry Kelly and Hugo Walsh qualified after they sprinted up the beach to finish second and third in Iron.
In the Under 12s, six Ocean Grove teams qualified for states in the Board Rescue, while seven local boys qualified in the Iron.
Youngsters Luke Bird and Will Deverall both crossed the line in equal first place in the final of the Under 12s Iron.
Four Ocean Grove Under 12 female teams in the Board Rescue qualified for states.
The Under 13s had 18 locals competing, a standout result was eight Ocean Grove SLSC boys finishing in the top 13 in the Surf Teams event.
There were 20 locals participating in the Under 8s, 13 Ocean Grove competitors took part in the Under 9s and 18 locals competed in the Under 10s category.
The surf carnival at Bancoora was also a youth carnival for the Under 14 and Under 15 age groups.
OCEAN Grove SLSC junior competitors will compete at two junior carnivals at Mordialloc on 3 February and Apollo Bay on 10 February prior to the two-day state championships on 23 and 24 February at Lorne.
